‘The White Helmets’ Review: Pulling Hope From the Rubble

A documentary explores the remarkable work of a group of Syrian citizens credited with having saved 58,000 lives over the past five years.

By

John Anderson

Sept. 15, 2016 6:30 pm ET

Watching a week-old baby rescued from the rubble of Aleppo can almost lift one out of the abject misery captured in director Orlando von Einsiedel’s “The White Helmets.” Likewise, the subjects of the film—officially, the Syrian Civil Defense—whose existence helps sustain a delirious hope that even amid the most bloody and ruthless of wars, an element of selfless humanity can survive.

Mr. Von Einsiedel makes serious-minded cinema—he and the film’s producer, Joanna Natasegara, were also responsible for “Virunga,” the Oscar-nominated...